Dead Men Don't Sin

Death.  We will all face it.

One day, our hearts will stop beating.  Blood will stop coursing through our veins.  Our lungs will stop taking in oxygen, and our brains will stop sending signals to our nervous system to act.  What once was a body in motion will lie perfectly still, unable to do anything.  We won’t be able to take a walk, watch a sunset, shoot hoops, hug our spouses and kids, or speak another word.  All that we have done in the world will be all that we will ever do – there are no second chances to ask for forgiveness or tell someone we love them.  It will be over.  Sounds pretty bleak, doesn’t it?

But it’s not …

Because death is what Jesus experienced.  On a cross, His heart stopped pumping blood.  He quit breathing.  His body was completely unable to do the things at which His followers had once marveled.  In the grave He could no longer heal the sick, restore sight to the blind, or turn water to wine.  He could do nothing on Earth for three days; all human tasks were impossible for the Son of God because He was dead.  Just as dead as you and I will one day be.  That sounds bleak, too, doesn’t it?

But it’s not …

The Word says that one man’s trespass (Adam’s) brought sin into the world and then death spread to all men because all men sinned.  (Romans 5:12).  But God desired to redeem what had happened.  To make it right again.  As one man’s trespass led to condemnation and death for all men, one act of obedience would lead to justification and life for all men.  
When we think of death, we always think of the good things that we won’t be able to do anymore.  But do we realize … when we die, we will stop sinning, too?  Sin will no longer rule us!

Dead men don’t sin.

This is why Jesus had to fully die.  He completely took on sin and death to reverse our fate and break the power of sin.  To kill it.  And the Word says we have been united with Him in death. So if Jesus became our sin and died, that means our sin died, too.  As if we had never done it.

The good news is that dead sin can’t condemn us!  It’s powerless.  There is no blood in its heart or oxygen in its lungs.  It’s lifeless and still.  It can’t scream at us that we are unworthy, or whisper to us that we are unloved.

Because of Jesus’ very real death, sin is now as quiet and useless as a dead man lying in a grave.